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‘Saving Hope’ S5 Ep 11 review: Sins of the father

Charlie gets the scary ‘Ghost‘ treatment in “Nightmares and Dreamscapes” when Blake gets physical. Alex is concerned about their safety after a disturbing dream and relates to her young patient more than she’d like to. Shahir and Jonathon begin the adoption process which leads to a very important conversation. Maggie works with Zach on a mysterious case and evaluates her relationship with Sydney. Yup, it’s just another busy and crazy day at Hope Zion!

The Kids Are Alright

ChAlex is taking things slow, they’re focusing on the baby and trying to maintain stability. Unfortunately, Blake starts causing trouble and rattles the couple at work. He gave them space to grieve, but now he demands Charlie’s help. He hates being stuck in limbo and wants to move on, but he doesn’t know how. When Charlie joins Alex and Cassie to operate on their patient, Blake nearly jeopardizes the surgery.

Three brothers, Ezra, Kieran and Isaac Town, are rushed into the ER after a fatal car accident. Sadly, Ezra is the lone survivor. Kieran and Isaac’s spirits hope their little brother will be saved. Alex, Cassie and Charlie quickly take the boy to the OR to repair his perforated bowel and severely damaged leg.

As Charlie tries focusing on his patient, Blake dangerously distracts him. He blames Charlie for not checking on him while he was in a coma. He doesn’t make sense because Charlie was never his doctor, they only met in limbo. Blake is furious and grabs Charlie’s arm, then he turns invisible. Now Charlie can’t even see him when he starts shoving and knocking things around.

When a tray falls over, Alex quips about a ghost. Cassie is just annoyed that the hospital hasn’t fixed the HVAC yet. Charlie can’t control the look of frustration and horror on his face when Blake sits on Ezra. This ghost is getting out of hand! Alex tries covertly communicating with Charlie about the weirdness in the OR. Cassie is too distracted with repairing an accidental tear that she doesn’t even notice. Thankfully, Ezra’s surgery is successful…no thanks to Blake.

After the operation, Alex learns that the boys’ father, Mr. Town is an alcoholic. He’s shown up to the hospital drunk and it isn’t difficult to put the pieces together. The two older brothers came back home to take Ezra away from their abusive father. Alex understands what it is like to live with an alcoholic. When he insists on seeing all of his sons, Alex suggests that he sobers up before seeing his boys for the final time. While he calms down over a cup of coffee, Alex heads to the morgue to prepare Kieran and Isaac for the viewing.

Meanwhile, Blake is in full-on, freak-out ‘Ghost’ mode. He figured how to touch things and is making a mess. Alex sees the morgue doors open on their own. It’s a relief to have Alex witness a fraction of what Charlie experiences on a regular basis. It is starting to feel like they are really starting to be in this ghost whispering thing together. Charlie argues with him, saying he won’t let Blake scare people. Alex comes in and asks about the wild ghost. Charlie doesn’t know who he is or what he wants, but he’s going to figure it out before Blake causes serious damage.

Alex makes the boys presentable for their dad with Cassie’s help. She suddenly breaks down and start to cry. She tearfully laments, “Everybody’s dead.” Cassie comforts her and understands how much she’s been through recently. This case just pours salt into Alex’s open wounds. After she collects herself and finishes preparing the boys, she brings Mr. Town over.

He doesn’t know what do, so Alex simply says, “Tell them how you feel.” Mr. Town makes amends and owns up to his shortcomings: “I’m King of the crap house…I messed up. I didn’t mean to, but I did. Ezzie was right to call you. It should me lying here not you. You’re my good boys. I should’ve been better for you…I’m sorry.”

Sadly, it takes this tragic loss to rattle Mr. Town into sobriety. When Ezra wakes up and sees his dad, he immediately asks about Kieran and Isaac. Mr. Town says the boys are “with their mother.” Poor Ezra must feel so alone without his mother and brothers to turn to. Mr. Town promises he will do better and apologizes for everything. Ezra truly has a heart of gold if he forgives his father. Mr. Town better keep his promise this time.

‘Saving Hope’ doesn’t shy away from heavy content. The Towns represent another bleak and heartbreaking family tale, but they aren’t the only boys who suffered in this episode. Charlie does some research and learns more about Blake’s background.

Charlie looks through Blake’s medical history and sees that he was frequently brought into the hospital as a little boy. He “fell down a lot” throughout his childhood. When Charlie confronts Blake about it, he blames the fall on their cat. Of course, he isn’t buying it. That “cat had a mean left hook,” Charlie quips. What is Blake’s goal now? Charlie asks, “Are you going to torment the living until they feel as bad as you do?”

Suddenly, Blake turns into his child self. The boy makes excuses for his abusive parents: he was bad and they tried to fix him. Charlie tells him it is time to stop paying for his parents’ mistakes. Blake just doesn’t want to hurt anymore. Charlie asks him to be brave and brace himself for the next step. Little Blake wonders, “Am I dying?” as his spirit becomes translucent. Charlie comfortingly replies, “No. You’re free.”

Both storylines are bittersweet. I suppose the only silver lining here is that Mr. Town learned his lesson. Hopefully Ezra will not suffer the same fate as his brothers and Blake.

At the end of a long and particularly rough day, Charlie brings dinner home to Alex and fills her in on Blake’s story. In turn, she reveals her nightmare and is honest about her fear that a ghost wants to take their baby. Charlie can’t guarantee nothing bad will happen, but plans to prove that it won’t.

Let’s hope ChAlex isn’t thrown another disastrous curve ball in life. They’ve been through more than enough already, even by TV show standards.

Wherever You Will Go

The other storylines focus on Shahir and Maggie’s respective romantic relationships. They each have come a long way since Season 1 and we’ve seen them suffer through different kinds of heartbreak. However, for the first time, they are both in happy relationships. Even so, they still have some reservations.

The annual zombie crawl leads to chaos in Hope Zion. Sydney’s patient, Trudy, was married for 13 years and split from her busband because he didn’t want children, but she did. So she has an IVF pregnancy. When she has trouble remembering how to sign her name, Sydney fears she may have a neurological issue. Shahir consults on the case.

It seems that Trudy fell and hit her head during the zombie crawl. Shahir and Sydney operate to relieve the pressure caused by a brain swelling. They need to be very careful because she is 23 weeks pregnant. The surgery is very high risk, but they need to save her before the baby.

Trudy and her baby are all good and she finds solace in the sound of her unborn child’s heartbeat. Sydney realizes what a rare opportunity it is to perform brain surgery on a pregnant woman and she wants to continue doing this level of work at the best hospitals. The catch: one of the best hospitals is Tobin General in London and they’ve already offered her a job.

Maggie and Sydney have a much needed heart-to-heart. All day long, Maggie has been struggling with her feelings. She spends every night at Sydney’s, but is still holding back because she’s afraid of losing her again. Zach, being the good friend he is, points the obvious out to Maggie: she is in love with Sydney and she should just embrace it. When Sydney breaks the news about the London job offer, Maggie fears history is repeating itself. She snaps, “As soon as I let you in…” but Sydney cuts her off. It is different this time around. Sydney can’t go to London without her, so Maggie decides to follow her heart and agrees to go with her.

Wow. This is a huge step for Maggie. I love that Zach was helping her through this too. He wants the best for her and he sees how special her relationship with Sydney is. For the first time in a long time, Maggie is genuinely happy. We can only hope things stay this way. ‘Saving Hope’ has a way of raining on people’s parades. Given that this is the final season, we just want to see everyone have their happy ending. Fingers crossed for Maggie and Sydney!

Shahir and Jonathon are working on some of their personal issues as they begin filling out adoption forms. Shahir feels overwhelmed by the plethora of questions and is getting nervous about the whole thing.

As they begin answering some of the questions, Shahir learns that Jonathon was arrested in high school for stealing mascara from his girlfriend. We all know how this is a really big step for Shahir and we’ve seen how much he’s grown over the years. We’re proud of the progress he’s made and it is so wonderful to see he’s found such an understanding and supportive boyfriend. However, we see a different side to Jonathon when he snaps at Shahir for acting weird and having reservations. Poor Shahir. He’s trying his best. Clearly, there is something weighing on his heart and mind.

By episode’s end, Shahir opens up to Jonathon and explains what’s truly bothering him. He’s always been honest about his Asperger’s. As he looks at the questionnaire, he can’t help but wonder what his parents would’ve wanted if they had a choice. Would little Shahir have made anyone’s list? Awww! By ruling out certain characteristics, they could “Miss out on someone truly special.” Neither of them wants to do that. No matter what kind of hardships one may face, in general, it is fair to say that nothing with babies comes easy. So they will be open to adopt whatever kind of baby comes their way.

Jonathon and Shahir are so great together! It is delightful to see Shahir start a family of his own. The way he’s adopted ChAlex and Luke as his family has been adorable. Imagine how amazing it will be to see both families grow together. They’ll be match-making their babies in no time. Too cute!!!

Sleep Fighting

Given the episode’s title, we have to address Bart’s odd sleep disorder. He’s been beating on his much larger and stronger roommate, Niles, in his sleep. Zach believes Bart is acting out his dreams, especially when he’s under extra stress. Obvious comical moments aside, it is really sweet to see Niles stick by his unintentionally abusive roommate after getting pummeled. Now that’s friendship.

What did you think about this episode, Hopefuls? Are you surprised that Maggie agreed to go away with Sydney on the spot like that? Do you think it is sweet of Zach to watch out for his BFF like that? Are you relieved to see that Alex and Charlie are finally on the same page with the ghost world? Do you hope they continue discussing the supernatural so openly with each other? Should they be worried about Alex’s nightmare? Is their new baby really in danger of supernatural abduction? Could Alex’s pregnancy be in jeopardy? Share your thoughts below!

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You’d think more ghost exposure would be good for Alex, but it’s only giving her more excuses to second guess her relationship with Charlie. He can’t predict what kind of spirits will come along, but nothing is predictable.